Tiltable steebimb-wheel



E. H. VINCENT.

TILIABLE STEERING WHEEL.

APPucAnoa HLED Nov. 25. ma.

1 ,3 1 5 ,26 1 Patented Sept. 9, 1919.

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E. H. VINCENT.

TILTABLE STEERING WHEEL.

v APPLICATION FILED NOV. 25, um.

1,315,261. Patented Sept. 9;1919.

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E. H. VINCENT.

TILTABLE STEERING WHEEL.

APrucAnoa men NOV. 25. mp.

1,315,261. 1 PatentedSept. 9, 1919.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 3- gwum I hn Edward Hum/71f E? fllloulcl E. H. VINCENT.

mums STEERING wngu. APPLICATION FILED NOV. 25. 1913.

1,315,261. PatentedSept. 9, 1919.

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EDWARD H. VINCENT, OF DETROIT, MICHIGAN.

TILTABLE STEERING-WHEEL.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 9, 1919.

Application filed November 25, 1918. Serial No. 263,979.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EDWARD H. VINCENT, a citizen of the United States,and residing at Detroit, in the county of Wayne and State of Michigan,have invented a new and improved Tiltable Steering-Wheel, of which thefollowing is a specification.

The present invention has reference to a tiltable steering wheel formotor vehicles.

One of its objects is to provide a Wheel which may be tilted either upor down about an axis offset from the post. The invention also rovridesa tiltable wheel which may be readi y removed from the post.

Another feature of the invention resides in the provision of a headhaving two pairs of arms upon which the Wheel rim is mounted by means ofsegment plates that normally extend substantially longitudinally of thevehicle, thus forming 'an unusually attractive wheel and at the sametime afl'ording clearance for such vehicle control mechanism as may bepositioned on the post.

Again, the invention resides in certain locking means whereby the wheelmay be locked free from or fixed to the post head at will.

The invention further consists in other details of construction shown,described and claimed.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a plan view, parts being broken away,showing one embodiment of the invention, the wheel being detached fromthe post. Fi 2 is a side View corresponding thereto. igs. 3 and 4 areside views, the first showing the wheel raised and thrown forwardly andthe secondshowing it dropped. Figs. 5 and 6 are fragmentary plan views,parts being broken away, showing modifications the pivot structure. 7 isa fragmentary lan view showing a further modification. igs. 8 =and 9 aresections on the lines 8-8 and 9-9 of Fig. 7. Fig. 10 is a longitudinalsection showing the locking means which appears in Fig.1. Fi 11 is asimilar section illustrating a m lfication.

The usual steering post appears at i, and inolosed therein is thesteering shaft or rod 2 (Figs. 10 and 11) upon the conical upper end ofw hioha bushing 4 is adapted to be secured by the nut 5 and the key 6.The steering shaft, when made hollow as shown, admits the assage of theusual concentric spark and t rotlte control elements 7 and 8 the leversand assodated are of which are bushing and head may be permanentlycoupled together or even made integral, as will be obvious.

In the en'ibodiment of the invention shownin Figs. 1 to 4, inclusive,the head comprises two pairs of arms 20, 21, symmetrically disposer withreference to a transverse Plane through the steering post, and the endof each of these arms is socketed at 22 to receive a latch and isprovided adjacent the socket with inclined striker surfaces 23 and 24adapted to be engaged by the latch as it approaches the socket. Thelatches 25 are carried in the sockets 25 in the chord bars or plates26-27 of the rim 28, and each includes a hollow barrel 29, a pull rod30, and an interposed spring 31 whereby the latch is nornmlly thrustinwardly. Various other latch constructions may, of course, be subst-i t11 tcd there for.

It is evident that by withdrawing the rear latches from the sockets 22,the wheel may be either dropped downwardly (Fi 4) or thrown upwardly andforwardly ig. Evidently, also, both sets of latches may be withdrawn,whereupon the rim may be removed from the head and taken with the driverrather than left on the car, thus rendering it more diflicult for thecar to be stolen.

In Fig. 5, the front pair of latches is replaced by alined screws 35-36carried by the'bars T26 and 27 (that correspond respectively to the bars26 and 27) and threaded into the arms 20. It is preferred to pierce theends of the screws to receive cotter pins 38 and to provide lock washers39 to :maintain adjustment. By a slight further modification, Fi, 6,-the two-screws 3M6 may be replace by a single pivot bolt 40. I

Certain-features of the invention may also be applied to steering wheelsof the type in which the spark and throttle control levers :are locatedbelow the plane of the rim-see Figs. 7 "8 and 9. In this case thehead-41 ma the [trade .eempsratieely long and narrow and is providedwith two pairs of alined tapering sockets 42 having adjacent theretoinclined striker surfaces 4 3. These parts correspond, respectively, tothe sockets 22 and the surfaces 23. The spider may be provided with thealined pairs of spokes 45 and 46, the former hem arran ed to extendlongitudinally of the vehicle when in normal driving position. Thespider conforms to the head 41 and carries two pairs of alined pivotcasings 48 wherein latches 49 of the same construction as thoseheretofore described are carried in position to he received in thesockets 42. Proper relative adjustment between the walls of the spiderand the head may be obtained in various ways, for example, at one end bymeans of the bolt 50 which is provided with the inner and outer nuts5152, and at the other end by means of the tapering threaded screw ul'wedge 53 and the rul'rvspondingly threaded slot construction 54, itbeing understood that the walls of the head are spread apart from oneanother as the screw is forced inwardly. Either one of these adjustingmechanisms may obviously be used both at the front. and rear sides ofthe heads.

As best shown in Fig. 8, it is preferred to provide the spider, at leastimmediately above the steering post, with a crosswall 56 having thereina cylindrical depression that terminates in a conical seat 58 concentricwith the axes of the post. By providing the head with a correspondingupstanding cylinder projection 59 terminating in a conical end 60, thewheel may be automatically centered in reference to the head and a muchstiffer construction is insured, since the latches tend to draw thespider down firmly to the end 60.

Lock featurca-lt will be observed, Figs. 1 and 10, that the rotatablehead 14 has a cylindrical socket 62 in which a lock casing or barrel 63is slidable. The barrel contains any preferred lock mechanism (notshown) whereby the transversely rejecting pin 64 may be projected or witdrawn into the barrel at Wlll. A spiral spring 65, positioned betweenthe removable screw 66 and the bottom of the barrel, tends to force thelatter upwardly so that the tapered conical upper contact portion 67with which it is preferably provided normally bears in one of thesegmental conical seats 68 formed in the flange 12. By continuin thebarrel upwardly as a cylindrical nec 69 into which the key 70 may beinserted, and by machining away a portion of the side of said neck asshown at 72, Fig. 1, it is evident that the barrel is prevented fromturning about its own axis when the pin 64 is withdrawn. This pin isadapted to be received in either of two sockets 74 or 7 5. When in theposition shown, the wheel is locked firmly to the head, the spring (35maintaining the portion 67 in close engagement with the correspondingseat 68; when the barrel is in its innermost position, that is, when thepin 64- is received in the opening 75, the upper face of the taperedportion 67 of the barrel is below the lower face of the flange 12 andthe wheel is free to spin on the head. By thus utilizing the lock barrelitself as a locking member, a much greater area of metal is opposed toshearing than would be the case were the barrel stationary and providedwith a projeetable plunger or dctent.

In order to prevent the head from being withdrawn from the shaft 2, itis preferred to permanently connect them by a transverse pin 78.

In the modification, Fig. 11, the seats as are cylindrical and extendinto the head i radially about the axis of the shaft 2, and the neck67', which corresponds to the ll(.('li 67, is cylindrical. The key 70',pin 61'. sockets 74' and 75', and the spring 65' cor-- respond,respectively, to the parts 70, 64, 7- 75 and 65 heretofore described.The barrel 63' of the lock is in this instance prevented from angularmovement, when the pin 64 is withdrawn, by the threaded pin whichprojects into the slot 81 formed in said barrel. A pin 78 which isreceived in one of the seats or sockets 68 corresponds to the pin 78.

It will be observed that the pin 67, when withdrawn, rides in acircumferential. groove in the bushing 4 and projects somewhat into saidgroove; therefore it is not possible for a thief to disassemble the head14' from the bushing by unscrewing the nut 13. This, and the fact thatthe pin 78 is not accessible except after the head 14 is removed,renders the device substantially thief proof.

In both embodiments the pins 64-64 are prevented from being accidentallylodged in neutral position with reference to the sockets 7475, i l/-75by the action of the springs 6565.

When the wheel is unlocked from the head, the former may be turnedangularly about the post to such'a position as gives maximum clearancewhen it is thereafter tilted; consequently it is not necessary to setthe vehicle wheels in any particular position with reference to the bodyin order to allow the driver to readily enter or leave the seat.

It is evident that the details of construction are subject toconsiderable variation, and I do not, therefore, wish to be limitedexcept as indicated by the subjoined claims.

I claim:

1. In combination with a, steering shaft of a motor vehicle and a headfixed thereto, a, wheel structure mounted to tilt in either direction inrespect to said head and about an axis at right angles to that of theshaft and offset considerably therefrom, and latch means connecting thewheel structure and the head at a point on the opposite side of the axisof the shaft from the axis about which the wheel structure tilts.

In combination, a head adapted to be secured to a steering shaft andcomprising two pairs of arms, the arms of each pair being disposedoppositely to each other and being spaced considerably from the arms ofthe other pair, a rim structure, pivot means for connecting the rimstructure to one pair of the arms, and means for latching the rimstructure to the outer end portions of the other pair of arms.

3. In combination, a substantially H- shaped head adapted to be securedto a steering shaft, a rim structure pivoted to swing about a linejoining the outer ends of one of the side bars of the H, and latch meansfor securing the rim structure to the outer ends of the other side barof the H.

4. In. combination, a head adapted to be secured to a steering shaft, a,rim structure, said head and rim structure including four releasablecombined pivots and latches arranged in two alined pairs, whereby therim structure may be tilted about either pair of pivots at will or maybe held in proper steering relation to the shaft.

5. In combination, a rim structure including a pair of separate chordbars, a head adapted to be attached to a shaft, means for joining thechord bars to the head to swing about a line at right angles to the axisof the shaft and offset considerably therefrom, and latch means forconnecting the chord bars to the head at points ofl'set from the axis ofthe shaft, whereby the rim structure is supported on the head at fourwidely spaced points.

6. In combination, a head for a steering shaft, a rim structure mountedthereon and independently tiltable about either of two fixed parallellines transversely of the axis of said shaft.

7. In combination, a head for a steering shaft, a rim structure, saidhead and rim structure including and connected by two pairs ofreleasable latch pivots, the members of each pair being alined with oneanother and both pairs being oifset from the axis of the shaft, andmeans for relatively adjusting the head and rim structure in the regionof each of said pairs of latch pivots.

8. In combination, a steering shaft, a

bushing keyed thereon, a head rotatable on the bushing, a transverse pinconnecting the bushing and the shaft, said pin being concealed by thehead.

9. In combination, a head adapted to be secured to a steering shaft, arim structure, said head and rim structureincluding four releasablecombined pivots and latches arranged in two alined pairs, whereby therim structure may be tilted about either pair of combined pivots andlatches at will or may be removed bodily from the head when saidcombined pivots and latches are released.

10. A steering wheel comprising a rim, chord bars for the rim, a headadapted to be attached to a steering shaft, retractible pivots carriedby the chord bars and engaging the head, and releasable latch meansspaced from the axis of said pivots, whereby said rim and chord bars maytilt about the head and whereby the rim and chord bars may be freelyremoved from the head when the latch means is released and the pivotsare retracted and without disassembling either chord bar from the rim.

EDWARD H. VINCENT.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. 0."

